Singer and songwriter Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” in the words of the Swedish Academy.

The 75-year-old rock legend is the first American to win since the novelist Toni Morrison, in 1993.

Much of Dylan's best-known work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal historian of America's troubles.

The Nobel, one of the world’s most prestigious and financially generous awards, comes with a prize of 8 million Swedish kronor, or just over $900,000. The literature prize is given for a lifetime of writing rather than for a single work.

The prize announcement came hours after news of the death of Dario Fo, the Italian playwright, director and performer whose satirical work was recognized by the 1997 prize.